


I Don't Care Where We Go

by wecouldbeenough



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 02:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7782499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wecouldbeenough/pseuds/wecouldbeenough
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn thinks he sees a ghost and Liam is only person there to calm him down</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Don't Care Where We Go

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! this is entirely based off [this prompt](http://dailyau.tumblr.com/post/147649068741/its-the-last-train-of-the-night-and-were-the) . I wrote this all at like 2am in one go so please enjoy and tell me what you think!!

Zayn had always liked London at night.

 

 

Not that he'd had a lot of opportunities to see it when he was younger, mind, but since moving here a couple of years ago to attend uni, it had become familiar, welcoming. The city was bustling and always full of life, but occassionally he would experience “the sleepy hour”, as Niall would have put it, the time during the week where there were less club-goers, less people out and about, and things were almost quiet.

 

 

Zayn loved the sleepy hour. Well, most of the time.

 

 

It was almost one in the morning, Zayn had just finished his shift at a twenty four hour grocery shop (hey, who said putting yourself through uni was easy?), and he was _exhausted_. Add his fatigue to a twenty minute ride on the tube, then a ten minute walk to get home, and you get a pretty pissed off Zayn.

 

 

He fumbled with his oyster card several times before successfully swiping it and shoved it back into his wallet, his usually nimble fingers clumsy with sleep. God, he could go for a coffee right now.

 

 

He sent Niall a quick text while waiting for the next train to pull up, letting him know that he'd be home soon. The blond boy clucked and fretted like a mother hen, despite Zayn being older, and although it got a bit annoying sometimes, it made Zayn feel loved.

 

 

Zayn received a reply consisting of some nonsensical emojis and some kisses just as the train he was waiting for pulled up. It was pretty empty by the look of it, which he definitely preferred. During the day it was packed to the brim, but he had no problem finding a space tonight, considering there was only one other person in his compartment.

 

 

Zayn barely spared the stranger a glance as he took out his headphones. (It was probably unhealthy how much Zayn depended on them, but he'll be damned if he ever makes a journey without them.)

 

 

He was just about to slide them onto his head when a shadow flickered at the edge of his vision. His head snapped around quickly to try to catch it, earning him a strange look from the other man, but it disappeared in an instant.

 

 

Zayn frowned as his pulse rate began to increase and his breathing sped up. It was probably nothing honestly, just a light blinking, nothing to be scared of. Zayn was a fully grown man, so there were very few things that were supposed to scare him, right? There's no such thing as ghosts, not that he even thought there was a ghost anyway.

 

 

He closed his eyes and focused on slowing his breathing. He was being irrational, and he'd probably laugh at himself later. Yeah, it was definitely nothing! With that in mind, he opened his eyes, only to catch a distorted, ghostly white face reflected in the windows staring back at him.

 

 

Although Zayn didn't think of himself as being particularly brave or strong, he was definitely not a coward. However, in that moment which he would never admit to anyone, he cast away any dignity he may have had and let out the most embarrassing, high-pitched squeal he had ever made, skittering back a couple of steps and clutching his hand to his heart.

 

 

_Oh God I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna-_

 

 

“Uh... Are you ok?”

 

 

Zayn's head snapped towards the source of the noise yet again, and the small part of him not stricken by fear took a double take as he properly looked at the other man in the carriage for the first time.

 

 

The stranger's face had concern written all over it, bushy eyebrows that offset chocolate brown eyes drawn together. His plush pink lips were turned down into a frown, and a large hand ran through tousled brown hair nervously.

 

 

_Well at least I get to look at this before I die_ , Zayn thought dryly, before the terror began to overtake him again. It took him a few moments to realise that the man was waiting for a response, and Zayn cleared his throat unsuccessfully, willing himself to speak.

 

 

“Um, it's... I- there was a ghost,” Zayn squeaked eventually, and the strangers eyebrows shot up in surprise. Whatever answer he had been expecting, it probably wasn't that.

 

 

“A... ghost?” The man spoke slowly, as if trying to process the information, and Zayn was kicking himself. First impressions are always important according to his mum, who had drilled it into her children, and he's pretty sure he just blew that one spectacularly.

 

 

“Yeah, I just... I'm like really terrified of ghosts, yeah? And I think I just saw one,” Zayn trailed off lamely, eyes still surveying the carriage cautiously as he was unable to look the man in the eyes. Why he was divulging this information to a total stranger, he didn't know, but he figured this encounter couldn't possibly get any worse, so what did he have to lose?

 

 

There was a moment of silence again before the other man spoke up hesitantly.

 

“Um, well... ok, do you wanna talk to me so? Like, if helps to distract you or something, so you feel less scared, I dunno.” The man blushed as he ran his hand through his hair again, which seemed to be a habit. Zayn stared at him in surprise, causing his flush to deepen further.

 

 

“Sorry, it was a bad idea, I'll leave you alone actually.” The man stumbled through his sentence and made for the door of the carriage. Zayn's mind finally caught up and he realised that the man was going to go to another carriage. Meaning Zayn would be left alone. With the ghost.

 

 

“Wait!” Zayn blurted out by accident, surprising himself. The man froze and turned back towards Zayn, eyes questioning. “I... please don't leave me alone.”

 

 

With horror, Zayn realised that there were tears starting to form in his eyes, and his voice had cracked towards the end of his sentence. The man had definitely noticed, but rather than being weirded out and making an excuse to leave, his face softened and he moved closer to Zayn.

 

 

“Ok, that's fine. I'll stay with you, don't worry.” His eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, my name is Liam by the way! I don't know why I didn't say that earlier.”  
  
  
“I'm Zayn.” Zayn looked up bashfully and locked eyes with Liam, feeling a rush of gratitude towards him. He had no idea why he was being so kind, but he definitely appreciated it.

 

 

“When are you getting off, Zayn?” Zayn spluttered, rethinking everything he thought he knew about Liam. Liam cocked his head to one side, surprised by Zayn's reaction, before realising his inadvertent innuendo and turning bright pink. “I mean when's your stop!”

 

 

“Uh, in three stops.” Zayn shook himself mentally. Of course that's what he meant! What was he thinking, honestly-

 

 

“Ok, that's my stop too, I guess we're getting off together?” Liam waggled his eyebrows, causing Zayn to giggle, all tension forgotten. He wasn't sure if it was actually Liam's stop or if he was just being nice, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

 

Liam absolutely beamed when he heard Zayn's laugh, obviously taking it as a personal achievement.

 

 

“You feeling any better?” The question confused Zayn for a minute, before he remembered what had caused the whole situation in the first place.

 

 

“Yeah, I am actually.” Liam grinned again and Zayn's heart fluttered a bit.

 

 

They chatted and laughed for a while. Zayn was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Liam. They had a similar sense of humour and shared a surprising amount of interests. It was weird Zayn had only known him for fifteen minutes, because it felt like it had been a hell of a lot longer.

 

 

It was a good thing Liam was keeping track of their stops, because otherwise Zayn would have ended up at the end of the line. (Hey, in all fairness, Liam was pretty distracting.)

 

 

“Hey, Zayn, this is our stop.” Zayn's heart sank at the implications of that simple sentence. He was probably never gonna see Liam again after this, and he could feel his face fall, despite his best efforts. Liam noticed and put on a fake thoughtful expression.

 

 

“What is it?” Zayn asked, trying to push down any feelings of hope before they rose up.

 

 

“Well... I was just thinking, what if you run into any ghosts on the way home?” Zayn opened his mouth to say something snarky, but Liam continued. “I hear they're pretty active at this time of night, and I don't wanna take any chances. How about I walk you home?”

 

 

Although Liam had an air of bravado about him, Zayn could sense an underlying nervousness, as if he was afraid Zayn would reject him. The thought of that caused Zayn to snort.

 

 

“You know, I've heard that too,” Zayn said, playing along. “I think it really would be for the best if you walked me home. Just for protection of course.”

 

 

Only after he had finished did he stop fighting the huge grin trying to spread across his face. Liam mirrored the expression when he realised what Zayn meant.

 

 

He offered Zayn his arm as the train pulled up to their stop, putting on an exaggerated gentlemanly performance that caused Zayn to roll his eyes fondly.

 

 

“Shall we?” Zayn didn't respond but he took Liam's arm without hesitation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You know, I think it would be best if I got your number too,” Liam mused as they set off down the streets of London a few minutes later. “Purely for ghost-related situations, of course.”

 

 

Zayn didn't miss the clumsy wink aimed at him, brown eyes sparkling with amusement. He groaned loudly, rubbing his temple with his free hand.

 

 

“What have I gotten myself into?”

 

 

Liam began to laugh far too loudly for that hour of the night, and Zayn smiled gently as the neon-orange streetlights lit up the expression of joy, and their now-intertwined hands.

 

 

Whatever he had gotten into, maybe it wasn't so bad.

 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading to the end (although I know it's quite short haha). I'd love if you left kudos and maybe a comment?? have a lovely rest of the day or night xx


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